126 THE BONDS OF AFRICA 



unselfish humiliation, and it is to be trusted 

 that there never will be again. The well- 

 meaning missionary of the Word in dark places 

 not only preached that all men are equal, and 

 that the white man is but a brother of the 

 black, but he practised it. His whole-hearted — 

 I had written " mania " — and in the absence of 

 a more charitable word with a similar meaning 

 it must stand — absorbed him so that I suppose 

 he never for one moment thought of the mighty 

 power of the machinery, the cogwheels of which 

 he was oiling with such infinite care. 



The inevitable wave of civilization sweeps on, 

 and those who do not shirk the ordeal of peering 

 into the future can see dark clouds on the distant 

 horizon. Unless the world stands still — and it 

 cannot do that — those clouds must some day 

 burst upon us. We cannot escape them, but 

 that is no reason why we should precipitate the 

 storm. 



In his true uncultured self the African native 

 is a character in which there is much to commend. 

 Fill his shallow brain, however, with thoughts 

 which are altogether beyond him, teach him a 

 doctrine, the principles of which he cannot 

 assimilate, and he loses most, if not all, of his 

 natural charms, and he inevitably cultivates at 

 the same time vices which he did not practise 

 before he gave up his calico for a pair of trousers 

 and an umbrella. 



But to return for a moment to the lonely 

 priest. There is not much more to say of his 

 life, and I shall therefore record his death. 

 Like many another he gave up his life to his 

 cause. Blackwater fever seized him one day, 

 and in twenty-four hours he was stark and 

 cold. 



